Specialized Trauma Treatment for Athletes
Understanding Trauma in Athletic Performance
Trauma doesn't just affect athletes off the field—it fundamentally changes how their brain, nervous system, and body respond during competition and training. Whether stemming from coaching relationships, sports-related incidents, or personal experiences, trauma creates neural pathways that prioritize safety and comfort over the risk-taking and presence essential for peak performance.
As athletes, we're taught to push through, but trauma operates below conscious awareness, impacting critical mental capacities like belief in self, ability to focus, autonomy, and the capacity to "let go" in competition. When trauma is unresolved, athletes often find themselves playing not to lose rather than playing to win, held back by fear-based responses that limit their true potential.
Understanding trauma's impact on athletic performance is the first step toward reclaiming the freedom, presence, and fearlessness that define exceptional athletes. With specialized treatment, athletes can move beyond survival mode and rediscover the joy and aliveness that drew them to their sport.
Evidence-Based Trauma Treatment for Colorado Athletes
Since 2011, I've specialized in helping athletes overcome trauma using evidence-based approaches specifically tailored to the unique demands of athletic performance. My training includes EMDR (2015) with specialized focus on trauma reprocessing, complex trauma, addictive behaviors, and performance enhancement. I've also completed advanced training in HeartMath for Trauma and Neurofeedback under Dr. Blair Cano, a board-certified pediatric neuropsychologist.
My approach integrates multiple therapeutic modalities including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Internal Family Systems (IFS), and HeartMath biofeedback. This comprehensive toolkit allows me to address trauma at all levels—brain, nervous system, and body—creating the neural changes necessary for lasting transformation.
What sets my practice apart is the integration of sport psychology principles with trauma treatment. We don't just process traumatic experiences; we examine how trauma informs your relationship with your sport, winning, expectations, and risk-taking. Using EMDR and other "bottom-up" interventions, we rapidly build more effective neural pathways, replacing fear-based responses with the confidence and presence essential for athletic excellence.
As a former senior national-level swimmer and current endurance athlete, I understand the athlete's mindset, the pressure of competition, and the unique challenges athletes face both in sport and life.
Types of Athletic Trauma We Treat
Coaching Trauma: Fear of disappointment, experiences with coaches who yell or have unrealistic expectations, or transactional coaching relationships that leave athletes feeling valued only for performance rather than as whole people.
Sports-Related Incident Trauma: Crashes, injuries, getting hit by a pitch, or other frightening experiences during competition that create lasting fear responses affecting performance and safety in the sport.
Performance Trauma: Experiences of failure, embarrassment, or high-pressure situations that create ongoing anxiety and avoidance patterns in competitive settings.
Mental Blocks: Psychological barriers that prevent athletes from executing skills they've previously mastered, often rooted in traumatic experiences, fear of re-injury, or performance failures that create lasting avoidance patterns.
Personal Trauma: Sexual violence, relationship trauma, family trauma, or other life experiences that impact an athlete's sense of safety, self-worth, and ability to be present in their sport.
Approach to Trauma Therapy
My trauma therapy approach is grounded in the understanding that trauma lives in the body and nervous system, not just in thoughts and memories. Every intervention targets one of three levels: brain, nervous system, or body, ensuring comprehensive healing that translates directly to improved quality of life and athletic performance.
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) forms the foundation of much of our work. This evidence-based therapy helps athletes process traumatic memories while building new, adaptive neural pathways. For athletes, EMDR is particularly powerful because it works with the body's natural processing mechanisms, similar to how athletes train muscle memory. We use EMDR not only to resolve trauma but also to enhance performance by installing positive beliefs and resources.
Neurofeedback provides direct training for the brain, helping athletes develop optimal brainwave patterns for focus, calm confidence, and peak performance states. This technology allows us to literally see brain activity and train more effective patterns, giving athletes concrete tools for self-regulation both in therapy and competition.
HeartMath Biofeedback teaches heart rate variability coherence, a measurable state of psychophysiological balance that enhances emotional regulation, mental clarity, and physical coordination. Athletes learn to access this state on demand, transforming their relationship with pressure and stress.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps athletes clarify their values and develop psychological flexibility, enabling them to perform freely even when difficult thoughts or emotions arise. This approach is particularly valuable for athletes who've become overly focused on outcomes rather than process.
Internal Family Systems (IFS) addresses the different "parts" of an athlete's psyche—the part that fears failure, the part that needs to be perfect, the part that remembers trauma. By understanding and healing these internal relationships, athletes develop greater self-compassion and integration.
Beyond trauma recovery, we focus on how healing informs your relationship with sport itself. We examine beliefs about winning, expectations, and risk-taking, helping you reconnect with your sport in a way that feels alive and authentic rather than driven by fear or e
Success Stories: Athletes Overcoming Trauma
The transformation I witness in athletes who complete trauma therapy is profound and lasting. Athletes who once played tentatively, held back by fear-based responses, rediscover their ability to "go for it" with full commitment and presence.
One common pattern is athletes regaining their capacity for risk-taking in sport. After processing coaching trauma, a college soccer player described feeling "free to play my game again" rather than constantly anticipating criticism. Her performance improved dramatically as she stopped playing not to make mistakes and started playing to create opportunities.
Athletes who've experienced sports-related incident trauma often describe a return to presence and flow states they thought were lost forever. A cyclist who crashed during competition and developed severe anxiety about descents was able to fully engage with challenging terrain again after EMDR processing, describing the experience as "remembering why I love this sport."
For athletes who've experienced relationship or sexual violence, trauma therapy often facilitates a profound shift in self-perception. They begin to see themselves through the lens of their own character and achievements rather than through the distorted perspective their abuser imposed. This shift in identity transforms not only their relationship with themselves but also their capacity for confident, authentic performance.
What consistently emerges is athletes' renewed ability to be present in their sport, to respond rather than react, and to access the fearless, joyful engagement that defines peak performance. They develop what I call "empowered responsiveness"—the ability to acknowledge their trauma history (without being overcome by it) while choosing how they want to show up in their athletic pursuits.
Getting Started with Trauma Therapy
Taking the first step toward trauma therapy requires courage, but it's often the most important decision an athlete can make for both their sport and their life. Based in Colorado Springs, I serve athletes throughout Colorado via both in-person and telehealth sessions, making specialized trauma treatment accessible regardless of your location.
Our initial consultation focuses on understanding your unique experience, athletic goals, and how trauma may be impacting your performance and relationship with sport. Together, we'll develop a treatment plan that honors both your healing process and your athletic aspirations.
Many athletes worry that addressing trauma will somehow diminish their competitive edge or motivation. In reality, healing trauma typically enhances performance by removing the internal barriers that prevent athletes from accessing their full potential. You'll discover that playing from a place of strength and authenticity is far more powerful than playing from fear or compensatory patterns.
Ready to reclaim your athletic potential and rediscover the freedom that drew you to your sport? Contact me today to schedule your consultation and begin your journey toward both healing and peak performance. Your future self—both as an athlete and as a person—deserves the investment.